The number of Los Angeles parks included in an anti-gang program credited with helping the city record its safest summer in 40 years will be expanded from 16 to 24, officials announced today. Daily News.

The two dozen parks — in Los Angeles’ most troubled neighborhoods — will be open until midnight this summer, to provide sports and recreational activities aimed at luring youths away from gangs.

Dissatisfied with the pace of reform at local schools, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pleaded directly to Los Angeles Unified school board members Thursday to stop “biting at the edges” of reform and take bolder action.Conniei Llanos in the Daily News.

Villaraigosa is pushing for the district to overhaul its School Choice plan that allows nonprofits, teacher groups and charters to bid to run some of the district’s newest or lowest-performing schools.

The mayor, who helped elect a majority of the school board, said he was appealing directly to board members because Superintendent Ramon Cortines had “summarily dismissed” his recommendations.